Comparing
Medical Treatments for Antidepressants

By Carolyn M.
Clancy, M.D.

January 5, 2010

About one in
every six adults experiences depression at some
point in his or her life. The good news is that
depression can be treated to give you a better
quality of life. But finding the right treatment
that fits your needs can sometimes be tricky.

The most common
treatments are antidepressant drugs, counseling,
or a combination of the two. If you or a loved
one is prescribed a drug to treat depression,
you’ll want to understand its benefits and side
effects because certain treatments work better
for some people than others. For example, 4 of
every 10 people will find that the first
antidepressant they take may not ease their
symptoms, and they’ll need to try a different
drug to get the best results.

Finding the right
antidepressant for you can be confusing and
frustrating. To help you work with your doctor
or nurse to select the right medicine, my
agency, the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (AHRQ), developed a
guide on antidepressants for adults with
depression. In addition to discussing the
different drugs used to treat depression, the
guide also gives practical information on
depression.

Scientists used a
type of research called
comparative effectiveness to develop the
guide, which summarizes the findings of nearly
300 published studies. Comparative effectiveness
research focuses on a specific health problem
and asks what the pluses and minuses are of the
current treatments. These research findings do
not make your choice for you. That decision is
always left to you and your doctor. But it does
provide information that can help you and your
doctor make the best choice. For many years,
AHRQ has sponsored this type of research through
its
Effective Health Care Program. The Federal
Government is boosting funding for this type of
research so doctors, nurses, and patients have
good information to make better-informed
treatment decisions. In fact, this guide is just
one of several
consumer guides available from AHRQ.

When it comes to
treating depression, any drug’s success depends
on hitting the right balance between relieving
symptoms and minimizing side effects.

Our guide
concludes that most people can find an
antidepressant that works for them. Six out of
10 people feel better with the first drug they
try. However, most people need to take an
antidepressant for 6 weeks before they get the
full benefit.

The guide also
summarizes important information about side
effects. It outlines possible side
effects-including weight gain, constipation,
diarrhea, and sexual problems-and which drugs
are more or less likely to cause side effects
that may concern you. For example:

People who
take mirtazapine (sold as Remeron®) gain
more weight than people who take citalopram
(Celexa®), fluoxetine (Prozac®), or other
antidepressants.

People who
take venlaflaxine (Effexor®) experience
nausea and vomiting more often than people
who take other antidepressants.

Medicines can
improve the quality of your life if you suffer
from depression. With research that compares
different drugs’ effectiveness, you and your
doctor can make the best choice for you.

I’m Dr. Carolyn
Clancy, and that’s my advice on how to navigate
the health care system.